Finding A Voice
by Queen of the Nymphs
Summary: A new fairy tale, about the life of a girl named Neha, who faces the burdens of loss and love, whilst having theburden of a life of complete silence...
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the land of Capal there lived a beautiful girl named Kelly. But her beauty was nothing compared to the radiance of Neha!

Neha had long black hair, with beautiful tanned skin and shining brown eyes.

When she was young, Neha had been found on the side of the road by a baker, named Carl, who had 2 children of his own. Carl the baker took her in, and treated her as one of his own children.

However it was a different story when it came to the children of Carl. James, who was eight, was two years older than Eliza and Neha. The two girls were the same age, and Carl encouraged them to be friends.

Sadly, he was dead wrong.

For 7 years James and Eliza made Neha act like their slave. She had to do all of their chores, and wash their clothes, and bring them food, AND she even had to brush their teeth for them!

James was tall and gangly, with curly dark hair, with green eyes and tanned skin.

Eliza was short, very short, with tanned skin, short curly black hair and pale green eyes.

When James was fifteen, he was sent to Oxford University, where he would study for eight years. When he returned, he would not only be a scholar, but would also be a well trained swordsman. He would be knighted, and would then travel to court to become a courtier. Carl had 

saved his money for many, many years to give his son this education. He had also saved enough money for both Eliza and Neha to become Ladies when they reached an appropriate age, if they wished to.

However, Eliza told her father that Neha had confessed to her that she only wanted to be a baker, as he had been.

So Carl organised for her to become an apprentice in his shop, so that when she married (which, hopefully, would be soon. And Carl thought it WOULD be soon, because she was so utterly beautiful) she could continue his business.

And he made Eliza work as an apprentice too, so she could be occupied after losing her one companion. (Eliza was pretty darn angry about that…)

But only 3 weeks after James left for Oxford, Carl became very sick. For seven days he lay in agony, writhing in pain, in his bed. And on the eighth day… he DIED!!

Neha was devastated

For three days and three nights she wept endlessly on her bed.

Meanwhile, Eliza began to search the house for the money put away by her father. She searched behind paintings, and under carpets, and in mattresses, and in and behind books in the bookcases, and under furniture, and inside pillows, and even in the walls and under the floorboards themselves!

Until finally she had accumulated a large sum of money. For indeed, she had also found the money their father had planned to leave to them to support them in their lifestyle for many years, until they married, and James could earn his own money.

She took what she had found and hid it in her own room. She then called the red eyed Neha from her bedroom, and ordered her to…

"Take everything from my room and put it into my father's bedroom. You are to throw everything out that is his, or old, or tattered, or not valuable. Then, you are to take your things and put them in the kitchen cupboard. That is your new bedroom. You are now my maid, and you shall do everything I order."

Neha nodded quietly and began to work. As she did so, she could hear Eliza softly counting the money. Eventually Eliza went out, and when she had returned she had bought herself rich food to indulge herself with, and beautiful new clothes for herself.

She refused to work in Carl's bakery. Instead, Neha cooked all of the bread and pastries they sold herself, then returned to clean their house once everything had been sold. Eliza gave her the barest scrapes of food. And Neha suffered in silence.

Then, one day, two royal messengers arrived bearing this message:

'_A great search has begun for a girl Named Neha, who is believed to be 13 years of age. Those who can give her to us shall be greatly rewarded by the King of Capal.'_

**_Author's Note_**

_Well, unlike some other stories, these characters ARE all made up by me_

_This was written for a friend of mine, named Neha (ZOMG)_

_she and I and another of our friends (The infamous Kelly) went through a phase where we were writing each other fairytales_

_and they weere actually REALLY GOOD_

_so I decided to publish them, because I was the only one with an account..._

_I'll let you know who authored each one, if you're interested._

_Anyway, the rest of this will be up in about 5 seconds... so I hope you enjoy reading them!_


	2. Chapter 2

"I may know where this Neha is, why do you wish to find her?" Asked Eliza

"Don't tell her that she's the long lost princess of Capal, and the daughter of the King" One messenger whispered to the other.

"Uh… she is very important… and you will get a reward if you tell us where she is" the other said nervously.

"But _I_ am Neha!" Said Eliza. She was lying (obviously)

"Then eat this peanut butter and jelly sandwich!" Said one of the messengers

"But I am allergic to both peanuts and sandwiches!" Said Eliza, remembering the time she had made Neha eat a Peanut sandwich in punishment for spilling a glass of water.

"Huzzah!" said the messengers. "We have found the long lost heir to the Capallan throne!"

"Am I to go to the palace?" asked Eliza. "May I please bring my maid with me? I shall feel ever so lonely without her!"

The messengers nodded

Eliza skipped back into her house, smiling wickedly.

"Maid!" She called. Neha came running. "Go pack your things; I am going to the palace!"

Eliza collected what was left of her fathers' money, and hopped into the carriage, not even bothering to lock the door. Neha climbed in as well, and sat silently during their ride.

As the carriage pulled away, Neha watched sadly as they drove away from her home.

For many hours they travelled, and when they finally arrived at the Capallan Palace, which was called Necalla, Eliza was escorted from the carriage to the Kings' chambers, followed silently by Neha.

"Your majesty" the messengers said to the King. "Your daughter has arrived"

The King, who now lay on his deathbed, looked up and saw Eliza. Confusion crossed his face.

"But that's not…" he began to say. He was stopped by Eliza, who threw her arms around him so tightly he could not breathe. She pushed his face against her shoulder, stopping his breathe. Too weak to struggle, the king slowly died.

Eliza wiped at imaginary tears.

"The King, my father, is dead. I proclaim myself the new Queen. You shall all address me as Queen Neha!" said Eliza

Neha's eyes opened widely in shock.

"But…"

She began to say, but she was silenced as Eliza cried:

"Prepare a room to stay in until these are ready, and clear out the Kings body. Maid, you can do that." She said to Neha.

The girl, having been silenced for so many years, merely nodded and began her task, as tears slid down her cheeks.

"She is overjoyed that I am now Queen. Look how she cries with happiness!" Eliza said to a courtier.

The first thing Eliza did as Queen was seek out a witch.

"I want my maid silenced with a spell." She said to the witch, whose name was Lisa. "So that no one shall ever know of the pain I endured before being found."

Little did she know that the witch could tell that she was lying.

Instead, Lisa made Neha silent, until the day she found her true love's kiss…

For eight years Neha toiled endlessly and silently, doing whatever tasks  
her queen commanded.  
Be it cleaning shoes to entire rooms, wiping off her glasses or mucking  
out the stables, Neha had to do it. Eliza repeatedly threatened her with  
the powers of Lisa the witch.  
Neha, because of her silence, could not make friends within the palace  
servants. Not only was she isolated because of her silence, which was  
taken as her being stuck up because of her position, but Eliza also kept  
her so busy that she never had time to so much as smile at someone or  
wave, or listen to them!  
So Neha's life continued along, growing more and more depressing each  
day Eliza was queen.  
And all along, no one even suspected that she was not the heir.  
Once, Neha had been instructed to clean 'The Portrait Housement'.

The Portrait Housement was a long hallway, which was home to the many portraits of the former Kings and Queens of Capal. Neha slowly made her way along the hall, starting from the first King, Cappa (which was where Capal got its name from…), until she reached the most recent King, Beaubaton IV (!).

Looking up at the portrait of Beaubaton, Neha sighed silently.  
'This is the man who is my father' she thought. And indeed, there was a  
resemblance between them. Beaubaton had the same dark hair and eyes, and  
his skin was only slightly darker than her own. His eyes seemed to be  
looking straight out of the portrait and across the hall. Neha turned  
and gasped (well not really, she can't say anything or make any noise...  


but she did it silently...).  
There was a portrait of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She  
had the same long black hair as Neha. Her skin was naturally tanned, but  
not dark, and her eyes were the most beautiful shade of brown she had  
ever seen, blacker than onyx, deeper than the furthest cavern. The  
artist had even managed to capture the kind spark that shone in them.  
Looking at the tag, Neha realised that it was her mother...  
'Queen Catherine of Pecal, wife to King Beaubaton.'  
Neha could not help herself. She dropped her duster and fell to her  
knees between the portraits and wept her face in her hands.  
She wept for nearly an hour, until she had no tears left.  
'Mother' she thought. 'Father. I will rise up from my enslavement. And  
I will make you proud.'  
She heard footsteps.  
Neha frantically continued cleaning, glancing once more at the portraits  
of her parents.  
"There you are, stupid girl. Hurry up! I need you to come do these taxes  
for me."  
Neha, a questioning look on her face.  
Eliza had never even bothered to pay attention during their classes,  
instead, she had made Neha do it all for her.  
Hence, when Eliza had been made Queen (instead of Neha) she had to make  
Neha do all of her work for her.

So every night, after Neha had cleaned and dusted her way around the entire palace, and cooked Eliza's food and prepared her clothes for her, she would trudge up to Eliza's study, which was at the very top of the tallest tower of the Palace.

After her coronation Eliza had grown more and more paranoid. Everyone who entered the room knew her secret. Everyone with the slightest lump under their clothing had a weapon, and was planning to assassinate her. Everyone was her enemy.

In truth, the only person Eliza felt she could ever confide in or trust, was Neha.

And only because she could never say anything, at all, ever again!

And so everyday, as Neha worked out taxes and laws and land problems, Eliza would cry and moan and complain to her. And there was nothing Neha could do about it…


	3. Chapter 3

Neha's toils seemed endless. Every moment was spent doing Eliza's every whim.

For eight years this continued, and every day Eliza grew even more paranoid, until she rarely left her bedroom, and then she would only stand on a high balcony, wearing 3 bullet proof vests, with 7 guards surrounding her. The walls in her room had been painted completely white

As were her sheets and clothes and carpets.

To show her innocence?

Or to show the marks of her apparently imminent attack?

And Eliza did believe herself innocent.

She had told Neha that she had only taken her place because she was jealous of her beauty, and now that she was a princess, nay, a queen…

Something had come over her, some new found guilt.

It kept her awake all through the night. All day she shook. She ate nothing. She said nothing. She never smiled, or laughed, or sang.

Eliza was a queen of nothingness.

The people of Capal, of course, knew about this. But they were told that their Queen merely was too busy to go cut the ribbon to open the new child care centre, or too tired from the previous nights ball (which hadn't actually happened…) to oversee the new parade.

Instead, Eliza just watched from the balcony. She didn't even wave to the people, her white dresses blowing in the wind.

Neha watched from below, in the crowds of people who filled the square below the palace.

"They say the queens gone mad" she heard someone whispered

"Lives all alone in her room"

"Doesn't eat"

"Doesn't sleep"

"She's crazy"

"Wonder if she'll throw herself off the top of the tower" One little boy remarked

"Hush Jayce" said his mother. "Her spies'll hear you!"

"I heard she burst the ear drums of her maid so no one could make an alliance with her."

"I heard she tore out the eyes of her maid so she couldn't see what she did"

"I heard she cut the tongue out of her maid's throat so she couldn't tell anyone where she came from"

Neha turned and began to make her way back up to her room. It was the only entrance into Eliza's rooms, a decoy for when assassins would attempt to kill her.

As Neha trudged up the stairs, tears began to fall from her eyes. She thought she could hear footsteps coming towards her, but she wasn't sure, until she bumped into something.

Slash someone…

"Pardon me" The man said

Neha nodded deeply, before continuing up the stairs

"Excuse me, but I do believe that common courtesy instructs you to also apologise"

Neha made a face, before turning around and mouthing that she couldn't.

He merely raised an eyebrow

Neha tapped her throat and shook her head.

The man must have understand, because he nodded, and said

"Ah I see… well, I shall just accept that as an apology. Good day" He said.

Neha bowed again and continued up the stairs.

When she finally reached her room, Eliza was calling her.

"Come here, silly girl. I want you to scrub those sheets." Said Eliza

'They're perfectly clean' thought Neha. 'She really has lost her mind'

But nevertheless, Neha scrubbed and scrubbed at the sheets.

Once they were dry, Neha showed them to Eliza

Who merely screamed:

"UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN! WASH THEM AGAIN!!"

Before going back to her shower and staying in there for 3 hours.

And Neha continued to scrub the sheets, over and over again. Each time she gave them back to Eliza, she was sent to wash them again.

Neha must have scrubbed the sheets a hundred times (well, it was really 49, but who's counting?).

The sun had set hours ago, and Neha could barely could her head up, let alone muster the energy to continue to scrub at sheets. She looked up, noticing that the shower had turned off. Poking her head into Eliza's bedroom, she saw the false-queen asleep on her bed.

'Finally', thought Neha, before heading off to her own bed.

The next morning Neha woke to the feeling of a large weight on top of her.

It was Eliza.

The queen, because of her insomnia, had sleep walked into her bed during the night, and had proceeded to start crying into her clothes!

And even though Neha wriggled and squirmed in an attempt to get Eliza off her, her small frame, kept so because of years of tiny meals, was nothing compared to the queen's ever growing figure

'Why me?' thought Neha, laying back on her pillow. She decided to just let herself sleep in, until Eliza woke up after another of her bad nightmares.

Sadly, that came all too soon

"ARGH!" screamed Eliza

'Oh god no' thought Neha

"Your majesty!" said the guards who came running in. Neha blushed as the queen practically jumped off her and back into her own room. The guards followed her. Neha, in an attempt to avoid questioning, ran down to the kitchens to prepare the Queens meal. But once again she found herself running into a man.

"Excuse me" He said. "Oh it's you, I won't ask for an apology then" He said with a smile.

Neha smiled back shyly, before bowing again.

"Have a nice day!" He said before continuing up the stairs

'You too!' she thought as she walked down to the kitchens, a bounce in her step.


	4. Chapter 4

When she reached the kitchen, nodding hello to the head chef, she heard the Kitchen Maids gossiping about the handsome men who had arrived at the court to be knighted.

'I wonder if James will ever arrive' thought Neha. 'He'll probably be overjoyed that Eliza's queen and I am the servant.'

As Neha carried the tray with Eliza's food up to the Queen's bedroom she thought of the man she had bumped into so many times and blushed.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Neha continued her days work.  
But every so often, like when she stood in line waiting for the queen's  
lunch, or when she was scrubbing the floor or washing the sheets... his  
smile would flash back into her mind, just for a moment.  
And Neha would smile too.  
And her day brightened up just a little bit. So that by the time she  
returned to Eliza's room to work on state matters she was humming  
"What have you got to be so chirpy about?" Eliza cried. "While you've  
been out gallivanting around, I've been stuck up here trying to work  
what a pascel is!"  
'Pascel is the capitol city of Capal stupid woman.' Thought Neha, who  
then bowed and sat at Eliza's desk to begin work. Because she had spent  
the previous night scrubbing, there was double the amount to be done,  
and it took Neha 4 hours to finish it all.  
As she fell onto her bed, her thoughts returned once again to the man on  
the stairs...

The next day was the day it was the annual knighting ceremony, where  
young learned men who had passed the mental and physical exams, would be knighted by Eliza.

She was, naturally, petrified. Eliza began pacing her room at 4 am, working out any possible attacks that could happen, and thinking of the craziest schemes to overcome them

"If a midget jumped out of one of their mouths what should I do… what will I do?! Maybe one of my guards should have a sack ready to catch it! Then, he can wrap it in chains and throw it out the window… or into the ocean… or into a vulture's nest. Do vultures like to eat midgets?" She asked Neha, who had brought her breakfast for her.

Neha simply shrugged and placed the tray on the table.

"Taste it!" Shrieked Eliza. "What if it's poisoned? I can't die today! TASTE IT!" Neha shrugged again and took a bite of the pancakes, smothered in maple syrup and ice cream.

It was the most beautiful thing she had ever eaten. Almost moaning with pleasure, she took another bite.

"STOP EATING MY BREAKFAST!" Cried Eliza, still as greedy as ever. Neha's shoulders drooped, but she stepped away from the desk, savouring the mouthful she had managed to get.

As Eliza ate, her Royal Advisor, Kent, entered the room.

"Your Highness, I have a special request" He said

"What is it?" Eliza demanded, her mouth filled with food

"I merely ask that you keep an eye out for any prospective suitors." He said carefully. "You are now 21 years of age, and you will soon have to pick a husband."

"Can't you just find the most eligible bachelor and introduce us? Why do I have to do all the work myself?" She whined

"It is a tradition that the Queen or King of Capal find themselves a spouse from within our own court. It gives them a chance to experience love."

"Well I don't really care. Just pick some good looking ones and point them out to me. And make sure you do seven background checks on them, and have 3 different detectives follow them. Just in case…" Eliza replied, shovelling down the last of her pancakes. "Maid, dress me" she said, holding her arms out either side of her.

Before Neha could begin to undress her, the Advisor quickly bowed and hot footed it out of the room.

After somehow shoving Eliza into her new dress, specifically designed for this occasion, Eliza gave Neha her orders for the day:

"You are to put on that dress and stand beside my throne. Anytime I need you to, you will take a stabbing or an arrow for me. If anyone makes an attempt on my life, they MUST kill you instead"

'Great' Thought Neha, as she sighed silently. 'I'm going to die shortly before she does. She'll probably steal my place in heaven too.'

Nevertheless, she put on the dress, which was much too big, and followed Eliza down to her throne room, accompanied by the usual entourage of soldiers.

The dress was beautiful. It was red satin, with a full skirt and a corset. It came up over her shoulders in thick straps, which then met together at the back of her neck. Neha tried to clean herself up as well as she could, until Eliza sent her into a nearby bathroom to wash up quickly (while she had a quick panic attack about being 'whacked' in one of the cubicles).

Finally they reached the double doors which lead into the throne room down the long red carpet, which would be lined with courtiers, and which Eliza and Neha had to walk down to reach the throne. They waited as the announcer tapped his staff three times on the ground to silence those in the hall, before saying-

"Her majesty, Neha Pontifica the third, Queen of Capal"

Together they walked into the room. Eliza was hunched over, completely white, her eyes darting about the room nervously. Neha followed, her back straight, poised and sedate, like the queen she should have been.

The people around her whispered and stared, wondering who she was, she, who looked so much like King Beaubaton.

Neha couldn't help but smile to herself as these whispers became louder, ever so slightly so, to make Eliza even more nervous.

And so the ceremony began.

The men who had trained as knights lined up before Eliza, stating their name, birth place and place of training.

Once they had done this, they would kneel in front of Eliza, who would lift the State Sword and tap them on first the left, then the right shoulder, then kiss their foreheads.

It was believed to be luck, to be kissed by the queen, and this would protect them for the rest of their days.

The double doors opened again to admit the knights-to-be. Almost forty of them had completed their training this year, and Neha was dreading having to stand completely next to Eliza for all of it.

Neha was considering the possibility of her falling asleep standing up… without anyone noticing.

But.

It was then that she saw him.


	5. Chapter 5

Neha found herself standing straighter, her chin higher. She tried to flatten her hair, and pulled a little of it over her shoulder to show its length. She quickly held her hands clasped in front of her, but then changed to behind her back, before pulling her dress straight.

"Stop fidgeting, stupid girl" Said Eliza, before yawning as yet another man approached them.

"James McVor. Hailing from Montper. Cambridge University."

Eliza tapped him on the shoulders, rather heavily. McVor fought the urge to wince.

"Fitzwilliam Sidd. Hailing from Edwince. Yale University."

Again, Eliza tapped his shoulders.

It was now the turn of the handsome man from the stairs.

Neha caught his gaze. He smiled. Neha ducked her head down, blushing. He chuckled slightly, before saying:

"James Carlson. Hailing from Chalmer. Oxford Uni… oh my god. Eliza?" He said

Neha's face paled

Her mouth fell open.

THE HANDSOME MAN FROM THE STAIRS WAS JAMES!

James, who had spent so many years tormenting her!

'OMFG!!' thought Neha.

Neha began to cough, choking on her own breath.

"Uh… I am not Eliza" said Eliza. "I am Neha, the once long lost princess of Capal, now Queen. Stop coughing, you stupid girl!" She said to Neha. And she did stop

"Psht, Eliza stop being stupid! How could you try to trick an entire country like that?" He said, leaning closer. "Where's the real Neha? Is she really the princess?"

Neha started another coughing fit.

"Oh my god. You're the girl from the stairs! Who can't talk! Is it really you Neha? Wow, you grew up good girl!" said James

"Guards! Cease this strange man!" Said Eliza.

But someone from the audience called

"Hey, he's right! That maid looks more like Beaubaton than the queen looks like either of the old King or Queen"

"Yeah! The queens an imposter!"

"She sure fooled you guys!"

"Shut up idiot, she tricked you too!"

"Well she certainly didn't pull the wool over my eyes… I had my suspicions all along!"

"KILL THE IMPOSTER!" a mad man yelled

"KILL THE QUEEN!"

"PUT THE CHILD OF BEAUBATON ON THE THRONE!"

Eliza panicked. She jumped from her chair and attempted to run out of the room, but was trapped by her guards.

"I… I am the queen! This girl is the imposter! She tricked me into taking her place!" Cried Eliza feebly.  
Neha shook her head furiously, pointing to Eliza and trying to talk

If there was ever a time when she needed her voice, now was it

Alas, it was not to be…

"Umm… we seem to have a situation here" One of the guards said.

"Let's just imprison the Queen and put the silent girl on the throne."

"Boy" the head guard said to James. "Can you vouch for these girls' real identities?"

"Yes." Said James. "That girl is my sister, Eliza. The other is Neha. We found her on the side of the road when she was about 6 years old, and my father raised her himself."

"He _is_ a scholar" said the guard. "I'm going to go with what he says"

And so, Eliza was taken off her throne, and replaced with Neha.

And so she ruled, with James by her side as her advisor.

But Neha remained silent.

One day, after a particularly long service, she sighed and sat back from her desk.

'Being Queen is hard' she wrote on a piece of paper.

"Haha, yeah I figured" James said after reading it.

They had grown close over the year she had been Queen.

"Hey" said James "Can I talk to you?"

Neha nodded

"For the years I was away Neha, I've been thinking about how horrible I have been to you. The way Eliza and I treated you all of your life. Though I can't believe she took it as far as she did, now THAT was really horrible."

Neha nodded. She had forgiven James for his past actions, mainly because he wouldn't stop apologising until she did.

And it WAS a good decision on her behalf. James had proved himself time and time again through his repeated help and support in her position as Queen.

So when it came to the problem of appointing a new Royal Advisor she couldn't help but put James in the position. Sure it meant she HAD to spend a lot more time with James, but that couldn't be helped.

Besides, she didn't mind.

"But you see Neha" James continued. "I think I may have to forfeit my position as Royal Advisor."

Neha's pen froze where she was signing a document. Her face fell.

"I've… well I've fallen in love with this wonderful woman. And I want to marry her. And if I did that, then I would really have to change, well, jobs really."

Tears began to slide from Neha's eyes. She blinked and fought them away, before smiling at James to continue.

It dawned on her that SHE loved James. She didn't want some other woman to have him.

"So, Neha, I… Why are you crying?"

Neha shook her head and wiped away her tears.

"But… so you don't… Neha you… I really do lo…"

Neha began to sob.

"Oh…oh!" James said with realisation. "You stupid girl, it's you I love! I couldn't very well be Royal Advisor AND King."

Neha threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, long and hard.

She pulled away smiling, and felt like screaming with pent up happiness

So she did.

James' mouth fell open.

The guards came running.

Neha laughed, loudly and melodiously.

"I can talk! James, I can talk! I can talk and whine and laugh and groan and cheer!" She said kissing him and dancing around the room.

"I can sing!" She said, signing a few lines of random notes.

"I love you James" She said running over to him. "I've loved you since you came back from Oxford"

James smiled, picked her up and spun her around, before kissing her again.

"Marry me." He said, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Of course you dolt" Neha whispered, kissing his nose softly.

They laughed and practically skipped out of the room together to announce their betrothal to the Kingdom.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Except for Eliza

Who was made to redo school eleven times until she finally passed.

And then was made a dishwasher.

And somewhere, far far away, Lisa the witch sat atop her tall tower, watching the lives of the Capellans being played out, as she had predicted, seen through her crystal ball. She cackled as her part in the story came to an end, the period she was cared for was closed, and so she turned her eyes to another place in time and space, to watch those who were drawn to the fated path.


End file.
